Market activity levels improved on the day in the equities market on the back of increased foreign and local participation. Notwithstanding, the index declined by -78bps. Market breadth remained negative due to sustained selling pressure in select counters which offset increased bargain hunting. The consumers – Nestle (-1.69%), Unilever (-7.02%) and NB (-1.26%) led the laggards, closely trailed by the banks – Zenith (-1.84%), ETI (-3.57%) and UBA (-2.53%) though Guaranty (+1.04), Stanbic (+1.08%) and FBNH (+0.67%) advanced.
Market turnover rose to N3.3bn ($9.1m) boosted by block crosses in Nestle ($2.6m) involving mixed interests and NB ($0.9m). Ytd loss on the index was extended to -3.28%. We expect the market to trade sideways in the next session.
